Gulf Sate Park, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood…took it back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No…in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.” So his father wept for him. ~ Genesis 37:33-35 Such a blatant cover-up! Deceit continues to reign in this diseased family tree. Do you suppose any of them felt any remorse or guilt for what they’d done? I mean true remorse and guilt, not the kind Reuben was feeling; being only concerned for himself and his firstborn rights. Did their father react the way they expected? Or did they think that with Joseph out of the picture he’d lavish his love on them? Did listening to their father weep and mourn cause their hearts to ache? Or did it only serve to fuel their resentment; making them glad they’d gotten rid of Joseph? Do you think Jacob ever questioned God about why? Do you think he thought, even for a moment, that Joseph might not be dead, as he remembered the dreams Joseph had shared?
Every morning, both here and the last place, the sun rises in our window view.
Look at all the space we have! We love it!
We went to Walmart today. Normally I wouldn’t mention that, but today it’s kinda important. I bought pants. Not just any pants, but those stretchy ones that so many women and girls wear nowadays. And not only did I buy them, but they were marked down to $4! Silly me, I picked them up based on the size on the hanger. I know better, but Blaine was shopping with me. Well, a better term would be waiting, which always makes me rush. It wasn’t until I got home that I discovered they were 3X. LOL!
They actually fit pretty well – just about two inches too big around the very top, but since they’re stretchy, they don’t fall down. I’ll probably try to sew them up though, because I don’t like the feeling I might be losing my pants. I’m just really surprised how well they fit everywhere else. How would a 3X girl get herself into these? And would they have felt as comfortable if I’d had to squeeze myself into a large (which is what I thought I was purchasing)?
So why’d I buy them in the first place? I was hoping they’ll make bike riding more comfortable. Every time we go out for any length of time, as a woman, I get very uncomfortable. I decided that maybe . . . just maybe . . . if I wore something that didn’t have a large, heavy-duty seam (like jeans), then maybe . . . just maybe . . . I wouldn’t encounter said issues. For four bucks, it was certainly worth a try!
It worked! Oh, the sit bones still got a little tender, but overall, the most important places fared much better! Yay!!!!
We biked over to the pier first. (Keep in mind, it’s over a mile just to get out of the campground.)
main road because there was no way to get a running start. : )
The pier’s on the other side.
We’d read that at 1,540’ long, it was the second longest pier on the Gulf of Mexico. The longest is in Navarre Beach, Florida (halfway between where we just were and where we are now) and it’s 1,545’. Do you suppose they did that on purpose just to garner the title?
Currently, the pier at Gulf Shores is only 725’. ☹ From the Park’s website:
The Pier was damaged during Hurricane Sally in September, 2020, but is currently open past the halfway point.
Gulf State Park Pier repair is currently in the permitting phase with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) and we are unsure of when the permit will be completed and issued. However, if all goes well we hope to receive the permit early in 2022. We expect to be able to put this project out for bid by late-February. After a final review of the permit special award conditions, plan specifications, bids, contracting and other process requirements our expectation is to begin construction in April, 2022. The coordination between the federal agencies and permitting takes time and is a tedious process. If the permitting and bid process goes as planned, we are looking forward to re-opening of the pier near the end of this summer. We recognize the importance of the Pier to our community and guests and are working diligently with all the parties involved to expedite the opening as soon as possible.
After we were done admiring the view and being thankful we had Grayton Beach to walk on, because this beach is all loose sand which is very difficult to stroll on, we took off to pedal around the two lakes here at the Park.
See how steep it is?
On the way around, we stopped at the Nature Center where we met Calvin, their resident cat. While we were perusing the critter tanks, poor Calvin got caught breaking the rules (aka seriously getting up close and personal with one of the tank’s residents) and was summarily scooped up and placed in solitary confinement under the Ranger’s desk. He verbalized his complaint, but it did him no good, so he quieted down to wait for the conclusion of his time-out.
He greeted everyone who came in by rubbing on our legs and letting us pet him.
But only for a few seconds per person.
And they’re huge! Probably 3-4 inches long!
We didn’t hear any hissing though . . .
First heading to the top of the pot,
then changing his mind and deciding to get a drink and then go swimming instead.
Several places along the way, we noticed that someone had exercised their creativity by decorating tree stumps. Fun!
Did you notice it has eyes? : )
We covered about twelve miles in three hours, and I wasn’t sore at all! Next up – – some shorts.
The sunset was looking promising, so we headed back to the pier to check it out. How beautiful God paints the end of our days! And we were also witness to hundreds (if not thousands) of swallows filling the skies as they searched for their dinner. Very cool!
